Newspaper Page Text
Page 3B
Apr " 6 - 2022 iEep'orter
Leah Queen is this week s Everyday Hero
By Steve Reece
stevereece@gmail.com
Like the tires she sells,
Leah Queen, a lifelong
Monroe County resident, is
on a roll. She is the manager
of Southern Commercial
Tire, Pit Stop at 109 Patrol
Road Suite A and has been
there for seven years work
ing around one of the loves
of her life: cars. She also
works with another love
of her life, her hardwork
ing husband Adam who
spends most of his time in
the garage while she checks
in customers at the lobby
counter. Leah said she also
sometimes helps in the
garage bays when necessary,
doing what she consid
ers “minor things” such as
changing tires and oil.
The couple has two
children, 3-year-old Westin
and 7-year-old Aston who
is a student at KB Sutton
Elementary School. They
spend their weekends with
their sons on 4-wheelers,
fishing, and other outdoor
activities. Leah said she is all
about flowers and planted
83 in their yard at their
home near Juliette and is
anxiously awaiting their
arrival.
She graduated from
Mary Persons after going
to Monroe Academy until
her junior year. She then
got a masters degree in
psychology from the Uni
versity of Phoenix which
she said is sometimes useful
in dealing with customers.
She said no one was hiring
when she finished school, so
she went into retail. She now
works 50-60 hours a week
as well as helping raise two
boys. She also has an inter
est in law enforcement and
thinks she would like to be a
private investigator one day.
She said her boss, Jason St.
Peter, is the best boss she's
ever had and is one of the
main reasons she enjoys
working along with a lot of
good customers. She said
their store has the best cus
tomers in Monroe County
but as in all retail, they have
their share of bad ones.
Her advice to the younger
folks? “Don't go to college,
maybe take a few classes.
But practical classes. Find
something you enjoy doing.
Do what you love. Be an
entrepreneur.” Leah said,
“Don't settle down in a rut.
If you have a dream, go after
it.” Good advice from Leah
Queen: Another everyday
hero helping make life bet
ter in Monroe County.
Adam
and
Leah
Queen
at The
Pit Stop
in For
syth.
Freida White retires as Senior Center director
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Freida Whites impact on
the community was appar
ent at her retirement party
on March 30. There were
no parking places avail
able around the Monroe
County Senior Center and
no seats available inside the
center. The party started at
10 a.m. and was still going
strong at noon, as a steady
stream of friends stepped
up to talk about White and
wish her well.
March 31 was White’s
last day as director of the
Monroe County Senior
Center after 14 years and 3
months. She said she began
working at the Center on
Nov. 11,2007 when the
health of her mother, Mat-
tie Barkley, began declin
ing and she needed to quit
traveling and move back to
Forsyth.
“One thing they didn’t
tell me in my interview was
that every last one of you
would be on my heart,” said
White. “When I lost my
mother [in2016] everyone
of you became my mother.”
White said she started
her “journey of work” at
age 15 when Forsyth busi
ness man Paul James gave
her a job picking up and
delivering clothes for his
dry cleaning service. She
said she worked four or five
jobs through the years after
that, usually working with
the public. She had made
a lot more money than she
would as director of the Se
nior Center, but she knew
it was where she needed to
be at that time and
she knew she could
do the job. She noted
that she worked
for eight different
managers during her
years at the Senior
Center.
White said her old
est sister told her that
one day she would
wake up and know
it was time to retire,
and one morning last
October White woke
up and knew. She let her
manager know, but there
wasn’t much action on her
retirement; so she decided
she would wait until the
end of the first quarter,
March 31.
“I can’t wait until half
time,” she said.
White welcomed her
daughter, two sisters, a
family member who grew
up with her like a sister, two
aunts and a niece as guests
of honor at her retirement
as well as a host of friends
from the Center, the
community and beyond.
Gospel singer Leroy Little
and former Forsyth police
chief Benjamin Ponder
entertained the crowd with
songs in honor of White,
and about 18 members of
the Monroe Senior Line
Dancers brought applause
with their performance.
White told the Line Danc
ers she will soon be joining
their practices, and stepped
in with the group on its last
number.
Rev. Charles Dumas,
retired pastor of St. Luke
A.M.E. Church, gave the
opening prayer, and Pastor
McAuthor Childs of Mt.
Gilead Baptist, White’s
home church, gave re
marks. He said it will upset
him if he ever hears that
White gives up on some
Above, Freida White, 2nd from left, celebrates her retirement with her daughter and two sisters.
Top left, White, 2nd from right, joins the Senior Line Dancers for a number. Below left, Benjamin Ponder
shares his vocal talents at White's retirement.
thing.
“She’s very strong. God
has tested the product,”
said Childs. “He’s not
through with you, yet.”
Aretha Neal Thompson
guided the program as
Mistress of Ceremonies,
with a great deal of humor.
She had known White
growing up in Forsyth,
each of them part of three
sisters. Their friendship
continued over the years
and after Thompson
recently retired she began
volunteering at the Senior
Center.
Connie Gantt spoke of
working with White at
the Center for 13 years,
5 months of White’s 14
years 3 months. Camille
Vickers, Middle Geor
gia Community Action
Agency program director,
spoke of how obviously
unimpressed with a new
program director White
was when Vickers came to
the agency four years ago.
Vickers took the opportu
nity to learn from White
about the programs she
was directing.
“I saw someone who was
a passionate person,” said
Vickers. “Freida made me
better as a director. This
lady is brilliant.”
Subsequently, she said
White has become like
family to her. Minister Bar
bara Reid talked of being a
fellow student with White
at Hubbard from first grade
until they graduated in
1970 in the last class before
integration. Reid said she
was a quiet child, but White
would always speak up for
those who didn’t speak up
for themselves; she would
ask questions and get ex
planations.
“Freida had my back,”
said Reid.
White’s daughter, Kezia
Mobley, heart transplant
coordinator at Emory
University, said her mother
showed her what it meant
to be a hard worker. She
said she watched her
mother serving people
wherever she worked. She
called White her hero and
said she is probably more
excited about the retire
ment than her mother is, as
is her son, Jacob.
Christine Pennington
topped off the retirement
party by presenting White
with a gift from the seniors.
“We tried to plan for six
months,” said Pennington.
“We decided on a vacation.”
The seniors sent White
off to pack for a trip to Las
Vegas from April 1-4.
“There’s a lot of love in
that package,” said Thomp
son.
BOLINGBROKE
Continued from Page 1 B
the other roads, numer
ous individuals (Cowarts,
Kornegays, Durdens, and
others) have pledged to
keep a section clean. Big
thanks to all.
Driving around Macon-
Bibb and Monroe County,
it’s obvious which home-
owners, businesses, and
communities take pride
in their neighborhoods.
They’re the ones who
maintain their properties,
keep hedges trimmed,
fences repaired, yards
mowed, businesses
maintained, and trash
removed. I’ve been im
pressed that since the
March 5th clean-up, people
have been out and continue
to keep the roads policed.
Obviously, Bolingbroke
residents take pride in our
community. That pride is
on full display. Bravo!!
To the remainder of
Monroe County, Boling
broke is issuing a clean-up
challenge for the next
countywide clean-up day.
Try to top the 30-plus who
turned out and the 90-100
bags of trash removed. That
said, I’m sure Bolingbroke
will do even better next
time. Can you say a fall
clean-up day?
Reminder, the Boling
broke Community Club
meets at 6 p.m., first Tues
day each month at Mount
Zion Baptist Church. Stop
on by to share a meal and
meet some new neighbors.
5K
Continued from Page 4B
awards. The race was sponsored by Monroe
Physical Therapy and other local business
es, like Walmart, helped by contributing
things like snacks.
“Everybody deserved to win for braving it
out,” he said.
The 2022 Forsythia 5K finishers, in order
of finish, are Tyler Marshall, Jonathan
Head, Dustin Buttigieg, Timothy Clements,
Nick Valentine, Mac Roeser, Lilly Palmer,
Jeffrey Randall, Heath Hulett, Amanda
Nerd, Kimberly Valentine, Scott Dolan,
William Piper, B. Durrett, Tyler Mitch
ell, Jodi L. Brown, Ashley Mulvihill, Joe
Reed, Andrew Strickland, Amy Berkebile,
Jacquelyn Reed, Tee Watson, Dr. Keisha
Collins, Blaine Harrell, Ali Walker, Holy
Fore, Dan Reeves, Roger Mills, Johnnie
Sylvain, Jimmy Ward, Ansleigh Aspinwall,
Emily Olivia, Lauren Olivia, April Oxen-
ford, Winston Symmes, Sara Reed, Marcus
Bryant, Austin Goss, Lisa Skinner, Brooks
Cumbie, Sandra Dale, Taylor Lloyd, Hugh
Mercer, Leslie Sparks, Marleigh Goss,
Alyssa Mitchell, Madison Mueller, Kasey
Stuursma, Kelsie Hays, Sarah Bazemore,
Tara Atkinson, Kiera Gossett, Emily Thou,
Ansley Goss, Terrie Lewis, Kim Quintal,
Eve Fincher.
LOOKING FOR VENDORS
DATE - SATURDAY MAY 7, 2022
TIME - 10:00 AM TO 4:00 PM
LOCATION - FORSYTH GEORGIA
x>
PLEASE CONTACT:
RICHETTA HENDERSON ■ 678-764-8633
LEAH SUTTON-478-461-9162
V/
m.
m
SPONSORED BY: CATHEDRAL OF FAITH FAMILY PRAISE CENTER INTERNATIONAL